BOYS BASKETBALL: Greencastle-Antrim rolls past Southern Fulton

Tuesday

Jan 15, 2013 at 10:30 AM

By Ben Destefan

GREENCASTLE — Consider it a tune-up for Friday's marquee showdown against Gettysburg.

The Greencastle-Antrim boys basketball team made short work of visiting Southern Fulton Monday night, establishing a double-digit lead early while never looking back en route to a 65-46, non-league victory.

With the win, the Blue Devils improve to 12-2 overall, carrying a nine-game winning streak into Friday's contest against the Warriors (12-4). Assuming Gettysburg gets past Waynesboro tonight, G-A will be facing what most consider a must-win situation in terms of the division, with the Blue Devils currently trailing the Warriors by one game in the Mid-Penn Colonial standings.

G-A (6-1 MPC-Colonial) came up short in Round 1 back on Dec. 17, falling to Gettysburg (7-0 MPC-Colonial) on the road in overtime, 57-54.

Needless to say, by all indications, the Blue Devils' chances at a third-straight Colonial crown hinge heavily upon their ability to hold serve at home Friday night.

"They got us in the first meeting and they haven't slipped up in the division since," G-A head coach Gary Martin said of Gettysburg. "With the game being on our home floor this time around, I certainly like our chances. They're a very solid team and we're going to have to play to our abilities for all four quarters."

Martin and the Blue Devils will undoubtedly enhance their chances if they can match a start similar to the one they had Monday against Southern Fulton.

Essentially, G-A's 24-point first quarter put the game out of reach after just eight minutes, with the lead growing to 35-17 by halftime.

The Indians did manage to make things interesting after falling behind by 20 early in the third, putting together a 14-2 run to draw within eight at 39-31. The momentum would be short-lived however, as five consecutive points from Joel Zola stifled the comeback effort while granting the Blue Devils a 13-point advantage entering the fourth.

From here, G-A again pulled away, highlighted by eight points from Danny Stepler in the closing quarter, culminating into the 19-point victory.

"I was really pleased with the way we started tonight, especially playing in our third game in four days," Martin explained. "They went to a zone look on defense against us in the third, which took us a little while to figure out, but once we did, we got going again. Overall, I was happy with the result."

Zola paced the Blue Devils' production, finishing with a game-high 25 points, including 17 in the first half. Stepler followed with 15 points while Zach Faulkner also ended in double figures, netting 10 in the win.

Jordan Clingerman led the Indians, scoring a team-high 15 points in the loss.

Southern Fulton won Monday's junior varsity game, 43-29.

Wayne Kline and Sam Sprague both finished with six points for the Blue Devils.

Friday's festivities will begin with the JV game at 6 p.m. followed by the pivotal varsity match-up scheduled to tip-off at 7:30.

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